NOLA Loudspeakers by Accent Speaker Technology Ltd.

About NOLA

Carl launched his career at Dahlquist, where he spent fifteen years as the Chief Designer and Vice President of Engineering. During his tenure at Dahlquist, Carl developed the DQ-8, DQ-12 and the flagship DQ-20 loudspeakers (still revered today), as well as the Dahlquist LP-1 crossover and the CM-1 preamplifier.

In 1991, Carl and Marilyn Marchisotto founded Acarian Systems, Ltd. (manufacturers of the acclaimed Alón line of loudspeakers). Acarian Systems debuted at the January 1992 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where the widely acclaimed Alón IV had its first showing. Over the next thirteen years, Acarian developed a wide range of loudspeakers and cabling, including the Grand Reference System - considered by many to be the finest loudspeaker in the world.

In 2004, Carl and Marilyn formed Accent Speaker Technology Ltd. and created the Nola product line. Today, the company manufactures a complete line of loudspeakers - ranging from $1,500 bookshelf speakers to the $278,000 Grand Reference System - along with custom cabling designed to enhance the performance of any loudspeaker.

Accent Loudspeaker Technology was founded with the belief that it could bring the live musical experience to a broader number of people than had been previously reached. Carl Marchisotto's speaker designs have not only met this goal, but have been held in the highest regard by music lovers and reviewers alike. They have collected innumerable awards and won the praise of critics all over the globe.

Carl Marchisotto's speaker designs have not only met this goal, but have been held in the highest regard by music lovers and reviewers alike. They have collected innumerable awards and won the praise of critics all over the globe.

NOLA Technology

Several technologies set Nola's loudspeakers apart from the competition:

Nola's open baffle loudspeakers feature midranges and tweeters that operate in dipole mode, using a cone driver without an enclosure. This system eliminates four major resonant problems that hamper all midrange enclosure systems and cause the sound to take on a mechanical coloration:

Enclosure panel resonance

Enclosure air column resonance, due to air trapped in the enclosure -- resulting in standing waves

Delayed resonance, due to sound retransmitted through the cone

Driver resonance, due to stiffness of trapped air causing the driver to resonate close to its operating band

Nola open baffle loudspeakers are not hampered by any of the above. To operate in this environment, special drivers were developed that employ a cobalt magnet mounted on a cast frame, driving a low mass tri-laminate cone. These drivers combine lightning-fast response, very low distortion and inaudible coloration levels in a single design. Special baffle structures were created for the mid/high frequency range that are sculpted to reduce diffraction to minimal levels. The result is an open, natural and clear sound with excellent depth and soundstage performance.

Here is an example of a common boxed speaker design, with the forward wave in red, and the rear wave in blue. Notice how the rear wave bounces off the cabinet and recombines later with the forward wave, adding coloration to the sound. This resulting coloration blurs detail and adds a mechanical, boxy quality to the sound.

This is an example of a speaker driver operating in dipole mode. Note that the rear wave doesn't interfere with the forward wave. The result is an "open," natural, and clear sound with excellent depth and soundstage performance.

Nola loudspeakers feature hand-wired crossovers without fuses or current-limiting devices, which would compromise signal integrity. The tri-wired speakers use three separate boards, oriented in space so that they do not interfere with each other. This is a true tri-wired system - from the drivers back to the amplifier - for minimum possible distortion and coloration. The bi-wired systems use two separate crossover boards to create a true bi-wired system.

Nola's reference-model loudspeakers use an external crossover module for improved performance. The external crossover prevents colorations due to interactions between the driver magnets and crossover components, and also prevents mechanical vibration of the crossover components for a smoother, more open sound.

Multi-Wiring is a method of connecting loudspeakers to an amplifier (or amplifiers) for improved clarity and detail. Each driver or set of drivers in the loudspeaker has its own independent set of cables for connection to the amplifier. This separation of electrical connections to the drivers prevents distortions and colorations due to circulating currents within the loudspeaker, and reduces intermodulation distortions within the speaker cables. Multi-Wiring also allows the use of specialized cable constructions, optimized for different frequency ranges to attain better performance. For example, in the Blue Thunder speaker cable, the low-frequency cable uses a coaxial construction with both solid core and stranded silver wire, while the high-frequency section uses a uniaxial construction of stranded silver wire, resulting in improved openness and clarity.

With all of Nola's products, the use of Blue Thunder speaker cable in single, bi-wire, or tri-wire configurations is strongly recommended for best performance. Mismatched cables can cause sonic distortions, such as boomy bass, hard midrange, bright or dull treble, poor sound staging, nasality, poor dynamics and veiled sound.

All Nola products, including Blue Thunder cable, require a minimum of 100 hours use with music before speakers and cables will settle down to their final performance. During this break-in period the sound will usually be somewhat tight and constrained. As the system breaks in you will notice an increase in ease and openness to the sound, with improved dynamics.